Wii Fit

Last summer, my household got a Wii Fit, which was the rage (and the successor to the Wii). The Wii Fit is an electronic board that resembles a home scale. But what it measures is your center of balance. To simulate the movement, you shift your weight on the board. It’s an entertaining and graphic way to test your coordination.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Wii Fit, perhaps skip this post. It’s one of those life experiences that can’t be described in words.

Among the Wii Fit games, some came more naturally to me than others. I loved pinball (down as many balls within a given time frame) and soccer-ball heading (hit as many balls as possible without getting bonked by flying shoes).

The bubble river game drove me nuts. Here, you navigate along a river in a bubble, trying to go as far and as fast as possible without bursting along the river banks. At first, it was hard to control my movement and I’d quickly crash into the river bank. So I played other games for a week or two. Then I decided to give Bubble another go. To my surprise, I scored much higher than before. Much.

As I played the whole range of games, I found that improvement in one spurred improvement in the others. This might be a predictable result, but seeing such quick and marked progress was a revelation to me.

It reminded me of yoga “progress.” Sometimes, you might avoid a pose for weeks or months. Then, out of the blue, your teacher introduces it in class and you’re surprised that you can do it. A breakthrough. Why did it suddenly get so much easier?

Each asana affects the others. Teachers always emphasize that. (Some say that tadasana is the sum of all poses.) But it really hits home when you see change in your own self.